15. Magic, Myth and Monsters: Policing the Borders of Belief
14 October 2019, 12:00 - 15 October 2019, 00:30

Focussing on early modern trials, from that of Magdeleine d'Auvermont, who dreamed herself pregnant while her husband was away fighting in the wars, through to that of Louis Gaufridi, burned as both a witch and a magician, Wes Williams explores what courts, confessions, expert witnesses, and common conceptions can tell us about how societies police the frontiers of the credible, the borders of belief…then as now.

Wes Williams
Wes Williams
Speaker
Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford, Wes Williams is also a Fellow in Modern Languages at St Edmund Hall. He is also currently Knowledge Exchange Champion for the Humanities, based at TORCH. His main research interests are in the field of Renaissance studies: the critical study of genre and of subjectivity; investigations into the politics of literature, experience, and the popular and professional cultures of the early modern period. His first book – Pilgrimage and Narrative in the French Renaissance: ‘The... Read Full BiographyFestival Passes
This event is part of a series:
Tales of Beyond - Magic, Myths and Mortals
The 18th Oxford Lieder Festival will explore life, death, and the mysterious areas between and beyond. Sprites and nymphs cause mayhem and mischief, while legends abound from Greco-Roman sagas to the Lorelei and the Erlking. Storytelling with the Crick Crack Club, a ghost tour, a magic show and more all complement the myriad concerts, masterclasses and study events over a packed fortnight....